Local News

Fort Morgan Council approves $6.3M NISP allocation

Band shell and pool upgrades; new officers sworn in

By Kara Morgan

The Fort Morgan Times

Posted:
02/21/2019 07:08:15 PM MST

The Platte Valley Band plays at the Dahms-Talton Band Shell in Fort Morgan City Park. The City Council approved improvements to the band shell audio system at the meeting this past Tuesday, Feb. 19. (Jenni Grubbs / The Fort Morgan Times)

The Fort Morgan City Council approved a measure to set aside $6.3 million dollars for the first 'major cash payment' of $6.3 million toward the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) on Tuesday evening.

Director of Water Resources & Utilities Brent Nation explained to the Council at the public meeting that the City would not yet be signing any contract to give these funds to the NISP. Rather, Nation was asking Council to agree to allocating the funds to the project if or when it gets to that point, and designating whether the city would pay cash funds or join other project members in credit financing

"Tonight I'm asking from you to make the resolution that you're willing to set aside and reserve part of the cash fund that's there and available," Nation explained.

Nation said that Northern Water, a lead in the project, is working on a 'Request for Proposals' (or RFP) for the financial services for this phase and is asking project participants if they want to pay in cash or credit, as part of their RFP.

Nation said they "still have to put together some pieces of the puzzle" but the NISP team is working on next acquiring more land required for the project.

Nation explained the estimated $6.3 million from the City of Fort Morgan is nine percent of the team's estimated total cost for this part of the project, or around $70 million.

Nation added the project may not require the entire allocation, and the difference, if any, would be returned to the City.

Advertisement

Nation added that terms and other stipulations would be discussed in contract discussions between the City, Northern Water and the NISP team further down the line.

"At a later date, once the financing agreements are put together for the participant, we will come back with a formalized contract basically that the city will enter into with Northern Water for our portion of that funding," Nation said.

"We will be treated like everybody else, but instead of waiting on our line of credit to fund our portions of the purchases, we'll just be putting our cash into it," Nation added.

Councilor Lisa Northrup asked if the contracts would include clauses to protect the City in case the project had issues.

Nation said a legal team at Northern Water was working on how to protect the project members in this process and the different members and the Council would have the chance to review this.

He said this section of the project was seen as especially secure since the funds would be used to acquire 'hard assets' such as land.

Nation discussed the benefits to the City paying in cash, rather than taking out credit for payment. He corrected the number first provided to the Council; the City would save about $47,000, not $200,000, in the first year, by paying cash, though he said the overall savings of about $4.6 million was correct.

City Manager Jeff Wells said that this was one of the reasons the City planned ahead and set aside these reserves for projects like NISP that are years in the making.

"The reserves are part of an overall plan," Wells added.

Mayor Ron Shaver asked Nation if the water reserves were really at $10 million currently, as detailed in the memo to the Council. Nation said they were higher and that the $10 million amount was a conservative estimate.

At Councilor Allison Howe's request, Nation gave a brief explanation of the NISP and the reason the City became involved in it in the early 2000s. In short, Nation said, the project was to ensure that Fort Morgan had access to high-quality water for its future needs.

"Water sources are difficult to come by nowadays," Nation explained. "It takes time, it takes money."

Nation said the City has limits on its current water sources. Wells added that the City is working towards "the diversification of our water portfolio for present and future needs."

Fort Morgan is one of 15 members of NISP, including Weld County Water District, Dacono, Firestone, Frederick, Eaton, Erie, Evans, Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, Fort Lupton, Lafayette, Lefthand Water District, Morgan County Quality Water District, Severance and Windsor.

Law enforcement

Two new officers for the Fort Morgan Police Department, Paul Mendoza and Joe Hochanadel, were officially sworn in by Mayor Shaver on Tuesday evening.

Chief of Public Safety Paul Schultz said they were happy to welcome Mendoza and Hochanadel, both Fort Morgan High School graduates.

Schultz said the department is just one officer shy of full staff. He thanked the department's strong recruiting efforts and improving reputation for bringing these and other officers to the force.

Schultz said Mendoza had been with the FMPD previously, spent several years in Laramie County, Wyoming, and decided to return.

For Hochanadel, Schultz said he had worked previously at the Bayfield Marshal's Office and had approached the FMPD when he heard there were openings.

Once they were sworn in and received their badges, Shaver and Schultz welcomed them to the department.

Commander Loren Sharp was scheduled to present an intergovernmental agreement with the County on 911 funds and the Morgan County Communications Center, but requested the Council table the issue since the County had some changes they wanted to make to the agreement.

Public works

The City Council approved the zoning of three recently annexed land parcels of the Fiebig Farm property on U.S. Highway 34 after the public hearing on Tuesday.

Director of Public Works Steve Glammeyer explained that the requested zonings for the three parcels were General Business (B-2) for the first, and Industrial (I) for the other two.

Glammeyer said they received one call from a neighbor asking for information, not expressing an opinion for or against the zoning.

The council moved quickly through the hearing, with little discussion since there had been no updates on the issue at the meeting.

The Council heard the first reading of an ordinance for a request to change the name on a permit for a natural gas pipeline from SourceGas Distribution LLC to Black Hills Gas Distribution LLC, also known as Black Hills Energy.

The proposed ordinance says Black Hills Energy acquired SourceGas Distribution LLC in 2016 and they now have the rights to "service customers" in Fort Morgan, as of 2018.

The Council scheduled the public hearing for March 5.

The Council also approved the purchase of a mastic mixer from Vance Brothers for just under $60,000 for the streets department.

Glammeyer explained on Tuesday that the street department wanted to buy a mastic mixer for street repairs and chip seal treatment. In previous years the department rented a mixer for about $26,000 per month.

Glammeyer said this would help the streets department complete repairs in a timely manner and save costs over time, since such a machine could last up to a decade. The Council agreed that this would be a worthwhile investment for the City and department.

Recreation

The City Council approved improvements to the sound systems at the City's Dahms-Talton Band Shell and pool on Tuesday.

Community Services Director Ty Hamer brought the request to the City, explaining the City had budgeted about $10,000 for continued band shell improvements in 2019, but realized it would only cost the City about $3,000.

However, the estimated cost of the improvements to finish both the band shell project and upgrade the Riverside Pool Public Address (PA) system was under the $10,000 budgeted solely for band shell improvements.

Hamer also requested that the Council authorize his department to hire Mike Blecha of Kinnon Entertainment, the same vendor they used for 2018 band shell improvements in a project with the Fall Harvest Car Show and the Band Shell Committee.

Hamer said Blecha had worked well with the city on this and other projects.

Hamer described the PA system at the pool as "outdated, useless and unsafe." He explained that by using these funds for the PA system, the dollars already budgeted for the PA system could be used for additional needed repairs at the pool.

The council approved the resolution unanimously.

Councilor Northrup agreed that there is value for the City to maintain a relationship with a vendor that has worked well with them in the past.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.